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Otago Daily Times
11-08-2025
- Sport
- Otago Daily Times
Season to start with white ball
Otago will get their summer under way with the white ball again. New Zealand Cricket unveiled the domestic one-day schedules yesterday, confirming the men's and women's seasons will start with the Ford Trophy and Hallyburton Johnstone Shield respectively. The Ford Trophy will get under way in October for the second season, after a successful shift to open the summer with the competition instead of the Plunket Shield last year, and the Hallyburton Johnstone Shield starts in November. The Otago Volts meet defending Ford Trophy champions Canterbury away on October 25 to start the season. They will host home games at the University Oval on November 3, February 4 and February 7. They also host Canterbury at Queens Park in Invercargill on February 10, and Auckland in Queenstown on February 17. The Sparks start their Hallyburton Johnstone defence at home with a doubleheader against the Auckland Hearts — whom they beat in the 2024-25 final — on November 15-16. They have six games on the road before returning to Dunedin for the final two round robin games against Canterbury on February 14-15. The Basin Reserve will host both one-day competition finals. Ford Trophy's elimination final is scheduled for February 20 with the final on February 22. Hallyburton Johnstone's final is scheduled for February 21. New Zealand Cricket operations officer Catherine Campbell said changing the order of the men's competitions was well received by players and coaches in 2024. 'It helped our domestic bowlers build up their bowling loads initially through one-day cricket, which better prepared them for the physical demands of four-day cricket later in the season. 'This season we've been able to again, with the Ford Trophy being played over the top of England's white-ball tour of New Zealand, and the Plunket Shield providing a good run-up into the West Indies test series." The women's competition could benefit from the White Ferns returning from the Women's Cricket World Cup, which wraps up in India ahead of the domestic season. "We'd expect many of those players to be available for HBJ. We are also playing another North v South series in the week leading up to Christmas, which adds a little extra context on performances," Campbell said. The one-day competitions will again be split by the first half of the Plunket Shield and the Super Smash season. The Plunket Shield draw will be released tomorrow and the T20 schedule will be announced on Monday. Otago cricket One-day schedules Ford Trophy: v Canterbury (away), Oct 25; v Auckland (away), Oct 30; v CD (home), Nov 3; v Wellington (away), Nov 8; v ND (away), Nov 12; v ND (home), Feb 4; v Wellington (home), Feb 7; v Canterbury (home), Feb 10, v CD (away) Feb 13, Auckland (home) Feb 17. Hallyburton Johnstone Shield: v Auckland (home), Nov 15-16; v ND (away), Nov 29-30, v CD (away), Dec 13-14; Wellington (away), Feb 7-8; v Canterbury (home), Feb 14-15.
Otago Daily Times
09-06-2025
- Sport
- Otago Daily Times
Volts in market for coach after Noffke's exit
Ashley Noffke is one and done with the Otago Volts. The Australian coach has resigned his position with the Otago Cricket Association with immediate effect. It is not exactly a huge shock, as it was revealed recently Noffke had been given leave to join Pakistan as an assistant coach and the OCA was unsure whether he would return to fulfil the second year of his contract with the Volts. Still, it means Otago are looking for a third coach in as many seasons, and that is not often a recipe for a stable environment. Otago Cricket performance general manager Steve Martin said Noffke was permitted leave to take up the opportunity offered by Pakistan's new head coach, former Volts and Black Caps coach Mike Hesson. Noffke served as bowling coach for Pakistan in their recently completed series against Bangladesh. While there has been no official announcement, it seems likely the Australian has been given reasonable indication he is a contender for a permanent role with the national team. That is always going to be a significant carrot, especially as it may mean Noffke will have to spend less time away from his family in Australia. Noffke came to Otago from women's cricket, where he was coaching the Brisbane Heat in the Big Bash and the London Spirit in The Hundred. He played one ODI and two T20s for Australia, and took 386 wickets in 118 first-class games and 138 wickets in 121 list-A games. In his single season in the South, Noffke guided the Volts to one win from eight Plunket Shield games, five wins and five losses in the Ford Trophy, and four wins in 10 Super Smash games. Those might sound like moderate results but there were some signs the Volts were taking some positive steps, and new players were blooded. Martin highlighted the "great progress" Noffke had made over the past year in the development of players and the team. "Ash has been instrumental in the development of our players whose improvement throughout the 2024-2025 season was clearly noticeable," Martin said in a statement. "His people management skills, his game knowledge and his drive for improvement created confidence in players and support staff. "As much as we are sad to see Ash leave, our men's high-performance programme has grown considerably as a result of his efforts." Otago Cricket has immediately advertised for the role and expects to have a replacement head coach in place within the next two months. Cricket never really stops, so the association is "progressing with an interim winter coaching resource" ahead of the appointment of a permanent head coach. The extra complicating factor is that Otago was some way down the track to finding an assistant coach, following the departure of Ben McCord, to work with Noffke. Any firming up of an assistant's role will presumably now have to wait until a new kingpin is in place. It is all change at Otago Cricket headquarters following news late last week that Welshman Gareth Davies was inbound to be the new Sparks coach.
Otago Daily Times
06-06-2025
- Sport
- Otago Daily Times
Walter to guide Black Caps in all three formats
Former Otago coach Rob Walter has been handed the top job. He will take over as Black Caps coach later this month. His contract runs through to the conclusion of the ICC T20 World Cup in New Zealand and Australia in November 2028. He replaces Gary Stead, who stepped down from limited-overs duties but had hoped to remain as the test coach. New Zealand Cricket opted against splitting the head coaching role and Walter will lead the Black Caps in all three formats. He is excited to carry on the work of his predecessor. "The Black Caps have been a successful and highly-regarded team on the world scene for some time now and it's a real privilege to be given the chance to add to that," he said. "It's an amazing opportunity to work with such a talented group of players and support staff through a period of time in which so many global events, as well as massive bilateral series, will be contested. "I just can't wait to get started. It's exciting, it's challenging, and the opportunity is enormous for everyone." Walter will oversee a demanding period. The Black Caps will compete in the ICC World Test Championship, the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics and three major ICC events, including the ICC 2027 Cricket World Cup. He is an experienced coach with an intimate knowledge of domestic cricket in New Zealand. He is also a familiar face in Otago. Walter moved to Dunedin from Pretoria in 2016 to coach the Volts. The 49-year-old had a five-year stint in Otago before relocating to Hawke's Bay coach Central Districts. He was appointed as the white-ball coach for South Africa in January 2023. He had previously served as the Proteas' strength and conditioning coach (2009-2013) and also had a stint with the Titans before he washed up in Dunedin. In an early interview with the Otago Daily Times , he said he had toured New Zealand with the Proteas in 2012 and was struck by the beauty of the country and the improvement the Black Caps were making. "This started a dialogue between myself, Mike Hesson and Brendon McCullum around their thoughts on New Zealand Cricket ... and potentially my involvement in NZC at some level sometime in the future. "I did not think it would happen until a little later on in the piece but an opportunity presented itself, and so I had to consider whether the it was the right time to act on that opportunity." Walter took a while to adjust to the culture in Volts' camp at the time. Initially, his style did not go over so well. But he was able to adjust and win over his players. He led the team to the Super Smash playoffs in 2019-20 and back-to-back appearances in the final of the Ford Trophy in 2018-19 and 2019-20. He had a successful stint with the Central Stags, guiding the team to the Ford Trophy and Plunket Shield double in 2022-23. Walter also coached the New Zealand A squad which toured India in 2022 and previously had stints in the Indian Premier League as assistant coach of the Pune Warriors and Delhi Daredevils.
Express Tribune
19-02-2025
- Sport
- Express Tribune
Ferguson ruled out of Champions Trophy
New Zealand fast bowler Lockie Ferguson has been ruled out of the ICC Champions Trophy 2025 due to a foot injury sustained during a warm-up match against Afghanistan in Karachi on Sunday. Ferguson felt pain in his right foot after bowling a spell, and an initial medical assessment confirmed he would not be fit for the remainder of the tournament. With the Champions Trophy set to begin tomorrow and its short duration, the decision was made to send Ferguson home for rehabilitation. To fill the gap left by Ferguson, Canterbury Kings fast bowler Kyle Jamieson will join the Blackcaps squad and depart for Pakistan this evening. Jamieson made a successful return to domestic cricket in December after recovering from a 10-month rehabilitation for a stress fracture in his back. Playing for Canterbury in the Dream11 Super Smash, he was instrumental in the Kings' Grand Final run, finishing as the joint second-leading wicket-taker with 14 wickets, including impressive figures of 4-12 against the Central Stags at Hagley Oval. Jamieson also featured in Canterbury's recent Ford Trophy matches, including a win over Northern Districts in Hamilton. New Zealand head coach Gary Stead expressed disappointment over Ferguson's injury, emphasizing the importance of his experience and contributions to the team. "We're really disappointed for Lockie," Stead said. "Lockie is a key part of the bowling group and brings a lot of major tournament experience, and we know how much he was looking forward to representing New Zealand at another major event. We wish him well for his recovery and hope he is back firing soon," he added. "Kyle brings plenty of pace and extra bounce, which will suit the conditions here in Pakistan," he said. "He's shown since returning in the Dream11 Super Smash how effective he can be in the shorter forms of the game, and he's bowled with real pace and energy, which is what you're looking for from a pace bowler, especially at a pinnacle event.
